Don’t compete, make it different.

So what do one do to be noticed amongst the relentless bombardment of marketing information being spewed at us 24/7/365 by thousands of people trying to get your attention?

You go quiet for a day or two. (I hear) Maybe 3, or 4 or 5 days. But quiet you go and you start studying the product and it’s purpose from all angles. If you can pull it inside out. Do so. Turn it around, upside down. Look and look. What do you see that can be DESCRIBED to a client as different? “Good” or “better” or “cheaper” is NOT different. In fact “good” is NOT good enough anymore. If you are not different you will not be noticed amongst the same noise.

Study your product and its purpose like you have not done before. Of course you must eat but if your initial view is that your products purpose is to provide you with an income it is going to stay on your shelve. You are going to FAIL. It MUST bring value to those who are willing to pay for it. And it is my job to try and find the ultimate way of explaining  to my prospective market how it will improve their life. They must perceive the idea that they will get more value from the product of service than what they pay.

What message can I use that will give my market the confidence to deal with ME! How can I get them to notice my message amongst the insane number of messages available on the planet? The job is to look for the magic message, the right words or story that will honestly describe the value my client will get when he or she uses my product. This is no easy task. This is not a lightweight decision. And it is exactly for this reason that most marketing fail.

Maybe you have the right message but never succeed to deliver it to those who are looking for your product. And often we deliver the message to the right client but they go with someone else, because your competition had a better story, not necessary a better product or service. The better message almost always wins the battle to get a new client.

One can google and google about the best way to market, and read hundreds of books on the subject, and even get the message and the format right. In fact you could become and expert and still not get it right.

You are not alone!

There are always someone else doing what you do. And they also want the client you want. The ONLY difference between you and the competition is the message. The story you have to tell. If you are very good at what you do, your clients will start to tell your story. And that is what you wish to achieve.

Delivery of your message will cost money. Try the spam route and you almost instantly discover nowadays that this is simply not tolerated anymore. Most “permission” based emails are bullshit in any case. Mostly spam. I always have add blocker plus installed on my Firefox, because I hate the Google advertisements stealing my bandwidth and cluttering up my screen. So “pure 2 gat jakkals” style, I also need to make a noise. I also need to deliver my message. How?

So to end this writing of today. I am now in day 2 of RETHINKING my own  marketing and message delivery strategy. I need to get an answer by studying the product AGAIN and what it does for the client, not Google more hogwash. To convey a truthful marketing message amongst all the copied folklore can be quite a challenge. It is also more complex nowadays to do research with Google, there are oodles of websites just spewing out “loutere kak” they copy from one another. It takes days to filter out the worthless data from the truth. More is not better anymore.

I will never take on a product that is a lie. Snake oil salesman will never get me to push a worthless product. I make damn sure something works before I will be willing to spend time on it. And then hopefully a honest targeted effort can be attained to deliver the message of value in the hands of those who are looking for such a product. How do I deliver the message to those who want to know, and miss those who do not want to hear?

Here we are, one half of the planet screaming at the other half of the planet trying to get each others attention to sell something hahahahahahaha. If you don’t have the staff to create graphics. Do copy writing that attracts clients. I suggest you have a look at our affordable marketing for South African Businesses. See you at https://t-m.co.za

 

 

Client Before/After Pictures can be a powerful beauty business booster.

Before and after images can be a geat product selling point.

Before and after images can be a geat product selling point.

Before and after pictures are very important selling aspects of your beauty business. These are the images potential clients will refer to in order to see just what your skin needling or skin care regimen can do for them. They want to see people who are just like them, with issues concerning skin problems, and how your collagen induction therapy or beauty product transformed their skin into the brand new people they are today.

If potential clients can visually relate to your other clients it could really make a difference in whether or not they make that initial phone call.

Here are few tips to keep in mind next time you are taking before and after photographs for your micro skin needling or skin product marketing.

Plain backdrop. Make sure you are taking your photos with your client against a plain, neutral colored backdrop. A solid colored door or large wall with no paintings is great for this type of photo. This allows viewers to solely focus on the people in the images and not become easily distracted with noisy backgrounds or other disruptive elements.

Lighting is important. Most before and after images tend to be washed out from the camera’s harsh flash. This can be solved by adding as much natural light to the room where you are having the photos taken. The natural light will be enough for the camera to see your client clearly without having to use the flash which diminishes detail. If you aren’t able to add natural light to your photos, make sure your client aren’t directly under a light source, this can cause unwanted shadows within your photos.

Keep the shot steady. When taking before and after photos, using a tripod could greatly increase the quality of the images you produce. The tripod allows the camera to stay steady and focus correctly on its subject without the chance of blurring from movement or shake. People viewing your marketing want to see clear shots of your client, they want to see every aspect of how a person changed from before and after their skin treatment procedures. Also, make sure your camera is on the portrait setting rather than landscape. If you are taking cosmetic photos, move in closer to your client but remember to maintain a clear focus.

Record your settings. Most importantly, record your settings when taking your first set of before photos. This means writing down the time in case you used the natural light of the sun, the distance between the client and the tripod and any other camera-specific settings used. This way, when you take the after photos you will have the exact set-up conditions as the before photos. This will eliminate any differentiations in the images and make for more accurate photos.

Use your best images. Think of your beauty business’s before and after marketing photo as your personal art gallery display. This is your page to post the absolute best skin renewal and correction work you have done to this day. Just like works of art, you want your viewers to see everything you can do to change their lives for the better. Art is supposed to evoke feelings, and that’s exactly what you want your before and after photos to do. Viewers want to see images that move them on an emotional level. These emotions end up driving people to finalize decisions. In this case, you want them to call your business that very moment and schedule a Nanokiss session.

The above may seem a little too detail-oriented for taking simple before and after pictures but keep in mind these images are potential selling points for people visiting your website or looking at your marketing material. Take the extra time to produce quality before and after photos, they truly are an important aspect of your beauty business. These photographs show potential clients exactly what you can do for them.

David Ogilvy Advertising Genius taught ConTheosius

BEFORE THERE WAS GOOGLE, SEO AND INTERNET. CLEVER PEOPLE HIRED DAVID OGILVY.

How a South African online shop builder and SEO expert got his start in the online marketing business?

David Ogilvy Advertising Genius in his time was the single biggest influence in the early marketing life of Contheosius.

In 1984 I stumbled upon a book “Confessions of an advertising man” by David Ogilvy. As a South African developer of custom windows software. South African Online Shop builder and expert South African marketer, for the last 30 years I often return to the timeless marketing wisdom of David Ogilvy. The foundation of marketing will not change. Only the building on top of it. Your client is not a fool. Your client is your wife 🙂

Ladies and Gentleman I proudly present to you David Ogilvy – A lesson in marketing you will treasure.

 

Power of suggestion in marketing

Subliminal advertising, briefly captured the nation’s attention a half century ago before turning out to be a hoax. In 1958, television networks banned subliminal ads after reports claimed that movie audiences could be induced to buy soft drinks and popcorn by the flashing of written commands onto the projection screen for a split second. It turned out that such ads rarely had any effect on consumer behavior.

 A new wave of advertising aims to tap straight into the unconscious mind, primarily through the use of product placements in movies and television.Marketers who have plugged into the latest neurological research know that repeated exposure to consumer products affects a customer’s desire for such products.

 A threshold level of exposure, such as a series of images of actors in a movie wearing logo-branded clothing (ie James Bond wearing a certain brand of sun glasses), raises observers’ preference for the marketed object, even though they may not be aware of the branding, according to a 2008 study by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Limited exposures suggest to the unconscious brain that the advertised product is scarce and thus has value. However once the exposure reaches a level where the unconscious brain perceives the object as common and thus easily obtained, it loses its value.

This research points the way toward a potential wave of neuro-marketing, where advertising campaigns are designed to sell products not on the basis of rational choice but rather through sub-conscious appeal. In South Africa Hannon effectively increased the desire for his hair products in the movie “Jimmy in pienk”.

Writing Articles with SEO content attracts clients

You know the saying “you must be cruel to be kind”
In order to supply the market what they want, you will have to learn it is not about you, or about your product. It is WHAT YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE CAN DO FOR THE CLIENT!

Remove your ego!

From now on only the prospective client exists. These prospective clients are human. They have feelings, emotions, desires, problems, needs and dreams. And you are only going to address those human aspects.

You will do it on an individual basis as if though you have a one to one conversation with this person. You will think like the prospect do. And the prospect only thinks… “what is in it for me, what will I get, how will my problem be solved?, how will I improve?. How good will I look?, what will the neighbours think?, will I feel chuffed after I’ve received this product or service?, did I do the right thing?”

First you need to draw this persons attention to the fact that you can fulfill the need or desire. You have the answer. For this you will use a headline or opening. This is the god of your message.

Stuff your headline up and your money is down the drain.  What makes this of such vital importance is that in a display add you call attention to your target market announcing that their answer has arrived. The headline is used in a message and the target will either reject the message or continue to read further.

Once you have the attention you need to create a picture in the mind of the prospect on how you are going to solve the problem.
Now you will supply argument and proof in the form of value and advantages so that you can create a desire in the prospect to make use of the answer to his/her problem or desire.

Persuasion might further be needed to remove obstacles that may lead to the prospect to have 2nd thoughts.

You need to remove all hesitant thoughts.
A little bit of nudging in the form of a free gift,discount or making the product or service scarce can be introduced. And finally you will make it extremely easy for the person to get what they want. You will tell them exactly what they need to do to get what they want.

Apart from the headline and the closing the elements above need not be in the sequence I wrote them. It is just vital that they are all present in your marketing material.